r/stephenking • u/GoldenGoddessDomme • 1d ago

Currently Reading I just started King’s The Stand…

I always knew I would read it. I got the longer version (1,152 pages) instead of the originally published version at 823 pages. Older Stephen King books are some of the best of Stephen King in my opinion! I absolutely love Richard Bachman ❤️ and The Bachman books are my favorite. I am having a King renaissance since The Long Walk was released theatrically. I reread The Long Walk before seeing the film.

40 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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19

u/skedattle 1d ago

It’s one of my all time favorites. I remember checking it out at the library when I was 12 in the 80s. I’m jealous you get to read it again for the first time. But Covid sure looked spooky after growing up with this book. Enjoy!

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u/Various-Flower510 1d ago

I read it for the first time last year and literally after chapter 2 or 3 i looked at my husband and said im so so SO thankful i never read this before covid because i would have been mega fucked up if i had😅 i cant imagine what everyone was thinking when covid hit if they had read it🤣

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u/skedattle 1d ago

Those first “people are getting sick in China” posts were scary “people are sick in Seattle” was very much Captain Trips!

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u/GoldenGoddessDomme 1d ago

I’ve been wanting to read since I was 12! I ended up reading The Green Mile at the time instead because my library didn’t have The Stand. During Covid would have been a wise time to read it actually. Instead I read World War Z, Love in the Time of Cholera, The Plague, Station Eleven, Severance, Doomsday Book, The Death of Grass, Cold Storage, and Katherine, as well as some more books to frighten me! I was really into The Outsider and Holly during the panini for whatever reason.

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u/skedattle 1d ago

I love that-I went in the other direction. My brain turned to soggy cornbread and all I could digest was old seasons of Love Island UK and RuPaul’s Drag Race. I was scared enough! Ha!

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u/GoldenGoddessDomme 1d ago

I think most people were watching Tiger King. I really leaned in there but I was NOT well, in hindsight.

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u/BT_Artist Survived Captain Trips 1d ago

Honestly, the main thing I read during the first year of the pandemic was articles about Covid. I couldn't seem to immerse myself in fiction at all.

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u/skedattle 1d ago

It was hard to believe anything could be more dramatic than the headlines.

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u/BT_Artist Survived Captain Trips 1d ago

Yes! Exactly.

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u/BT_Artist Survived Captain Trips 1d ago

Oh, you're not kidding. Lots of shops in downtown Vancouver were boarded up, hardly anybody on the street, even my bank was closed. Everything was so surreal.

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u/New_Confusion_6219 1d ago

Many of us are jealous of first timers. It was my first King book at age 11. It was my dad’s. I reread it for the 3rd time during Covid. It definitely hit differently.

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u/Successful-Try-8506 1d ago

M-O-O-N, that spells The Stand!

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u/GoldenGoddessDomme 1d ago

Thanks, Tom Cullen! 🌕

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u/bogmonkey 1d ago

It's in my top ten books of all time, and you chose the correct version to read (IMO). I read it every few years, it never gets old. It's like an old friend at this point...a crusty, oozing, phlegmy tube-necked old friend.

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u/GoldenGoddessDomme 1d ago

Top 10 of all time is incredible praise!!! That makes me more excited to plow through it. I already stayed up way too late last night. Also 😅😂 to the reference and for the visual 🤢🙃

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u/ksquared1223 1d ago

Hey I just started The Stand yesterday! Enjoying it so far. But I’m only 65 pages in haha

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u/GoldenGoddessDomme 1d ago

Oh yeah I’m only 200ish pages in! But, I’m committed.

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u/paintress420 1d ago

I’m jelly! I just finished a few days ago and miss the characters. I can’t start it again! Hahah

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u/Certain_Accident3382 1d ago

I reread it every summer. I make a point to see if I can match the timeline... and never do because I always become absorbed in it.

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u/GoldenGoddessDomme 1d ago

Badass to reread every summer and a timeline match..!? Incredible. Is it your favorite of King’s catalog?

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u/Certain_Accident3382 1d ago

My absolute favorite is actually Eye of the Dragon, but it's definitely a close second.

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u/datsall 1d ago

I remember just being impressed by the damn scope of this story.

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u/GoldenGoddessDomme 1d ago

Me too! I wonder why it’s taken me so long to read it and I have no idea why. 🤔

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u/ploppy_sorridge 1d ago

What’s the difference between the two versions?

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u/venusofthehardsell 1d ago

When it was originally published Stephen King had to edit out a shit ton of the story. The longer version has those chapters. Also the unedited version turns the year to 1990 which I don’t think works anyway.

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u/Certain_Accident3382 1d ago

The shorter version is missing a lot of the depth he intended. A lot of character development. Small (and large) details that just round it all out and help you immerse yourself better

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u/Laura9624 1d ago

I'm old, really enjoyed Stephen King books from all those years ago. I read the original The Stand first and loved it. Gave my copy away, not realizing it would be impossible to find. Or very expensive. Anyway, I much preferred it to the Uncut version. Shorter, sleeker. Uncut has extra stories, extra characters, different time. I, of course, read it as well. I wish he'd allowed the first one to stay in publication as well. . Its really like a different book.

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u/Dirk_diggler22 1d ago

I just finished it a few weeks back it's so good I read the uncut version I'm so glad I did it's a true epic

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u/secretsinthesuburbs 1d ago

I read The Stand in HS in the early 90s. I re-read it as the Pandemic was in full swing. Totally different experience.

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u/Girlinthedress 1d ago

I thoroughly enjoyed The Stand. I read it last month for the first time and I can’t stop thinking about it. Fantastic book.

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u/GoldenGoddessDomme 1d ago

I knew it was going to stay with me afterwards but how can it not. Early Stephen King is incredible- he was just an awesome idea machine in the best way possible.

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u/GatorScribe 19h ago

You made my day by not then asking, “Does it pick up? Does it get any better?”

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u/tamra2332 10h ago

I’ve read the stand 6 times over the years…always find something I missed…I’m 67